Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0153470 (Spleen)
 4,015 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Vaccines containing hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) induce antibody to HBsAg (anti-HBs) in most normal individuals and protects them from hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. However, these vaccines are not efficient at inducing anti-HBs in immunosuppressed individuals, especially in immunosuppressed HBV carriers. The aim of this study was to prepare and to assess the efficacy of a dendritic cell (DC)-based vaccine in an immunosuppressed HBV transgenic mouse (HBV-Tg), an animal model of the HBV carrier state. In order to prepare immunosuppressed HBV-Tg, HBV-Tg were injected with FK-506, an immunosuppressive agent, once daily, intraperitoneally for 15 days. Spleen cells of immunosuppressed HBV-Tg expressed very little mRNAs for interleukin-2 and interferon-gamma. DCs were isolated from the spleen of immunosuppressed HBV-Tg and cultured with HBsAg (100 microg) for 48 h to prepare HBsAg-pulsed DCs. Immunosuppressed HBV-Tg expressing HBsAg in the sera were administered with HBsAg-pulsed DCs or unpulsed DCs or HBsAg in adjuvant for different durations. Immunosuppressed HBV-Tg (n = 8) twice administered with HBsAg-pulsed DCs expressed anti-HBs in the sera within 6 weeks of first injection. Seven of eight immunosuppressed HBV-Tg remained positive for anti-HBs in the sera for the next 12 weeks of observation in spite of receiving daily injection of FK-506 for the entire duration. However, immunosuppressed HBV-Tg administered with unpulsed DCs or HBsAg in adjuvant did not express anti-HBs in the sera. The data show that DCs from immunosuppressed HBV-Tg can be loaded with HBsAg to prepare immunogenic HBsAg-pulsed DCs. HBsAg-pulsed DCs induced anti-HBs in immunosuppressed HBV-Tg. This approach may be of use to induce and maintain anti-HBs in immunosuppressed human HBV carriers.
 ...
PMID:Production of hepatitis B surface antigen-pulsed dendritic cells from immunosuppressed murine hepatitis B virus carrier: evaluation of immunogenicity of antigen-pulsed dendritic cells in vivo. 1556 19

Lymphocytic choriomeningitis (LCM) virus-infected culture cells as targets were markedly reduced in numbers when incubated in vitro with spleen cells from LCM virus-immune mice, even if the cells were taken months after a subcutaneous immunizing infection of the donor animal. Spleen cells from mice persistently infected with LCM virus had no effect on target cells. Also, mitomycin C-blocked LCM virus-infected culture cells stimulated the incorporation of radiolabeled thymidine into spleen cells from LCM virus-immune mice. No stimulation was observed with spleen cells from LCM virus carrier mice. It was concluded that cell-mediated immunity directed against LCM virion surface antigen(s) is absent in LCM virus carrier mice.
 ...
PMID:Persistent infection of mice with the virus of lymphocytic choriomeningitis: virus-specific immunological tolerance. 1655 92

Uterine natural killer (uNK) cells expand rapidly during endometrial decidualization and account for 70% of leukocytes in early gestational uteri of humans and rodents. These cells make unique contributions to pregnancy, contributing to the success of embryo implantation and maintenance of decidual tissue that supports placental and fetal development. We postulated that uNK cells express molecules that are not shared by circulating NK (cNK) cells or other leukocytes and, therefore, would be immunogenic for male mice. We isolated viable uNK cells from gestation day 9 pregnant mice and inoculated them into syngeneic males. This induced antibodies reactive with mouse uNK cells but not with cNK cells or other lymphocytes. The antibodies reacted identically with uNK cells in tissue sections from five different mice strains from gestational day 7-12 and in pregnant rat uterus, suggesting that the recognized antigen should be a specific marker of uNK cell. Spleen cells from inoculated males were used subsequently to produce a monoclonal antibody reactive to a uNK cell surface antigen. These experiments confirm that uNK cells are a pregnancy-specific subset of NK cells expressing distinct surface antigen from those found in other tissues.
 ...
PMID:Uterine natural killer cells are immunogenic in syngeneic male mice. 1877 4

Babesia divergens is an intraerythrocytic Apicomplexa and the main agent of bovine babesiosis in Europe. The infection in cattle develops in 2 phases: an acute phase with hemolytic anemia and a chronic phase with asymptomatic persistence of the parasite for several years. The acute phase of B. divergens infection can be studied using the gerbil (Meriones unguiculatus) as a laboratory model but unlike cattle, this animal rapidly eliminates the parasite. An experimental model to study the chronic phase of infection was therefore developed by our laboratory. Spleen-intact sheep, with a potential full immune response, were inoculated with infected red blood cells (iRBC) or with free merozoites, by several routes (intraperitoneal, intravenous or subcutaneously). No clinical signs were ever observed but the installation of a persistent low level infection was shown in sheep with susceptible erythrocytes (able to sustain B. divergens growth in vitro). Neither feature was observed in sheep with non-susceptible erythrocytes. IgG production, involving both IgG1 and IgG2, was mainly directed against the major merozoite surface antigen Bd37, similar to the humoral immune response described in naturally infected cattle. The use of spleen-intact sheep to study the immune response to B. divergens is discussed.
 ...
PMID:Babesia divergens experimental infection of spleen-intact sheep results in long-lasting parasitemia despite a strong humoral response: preliminary results. 1976 3


<< Previous 1 2